Opposites Attract
by Colette Tatlin
Summary: It doesn't make any sense. How can opposites attract? Take Jade and Anise for example. Anise, being a bit annoying, and Jade being a very smart, keep to himself person. I made this out of boredom, so if you hate it, haters gonna hate.
1. Chapter 1: A Surprising Reunion

It had been a while since Luke came back. A long time since the battle with Van.

It was now ND 2021.

All of them had grown a lot since then. They barely see each other...except for, you know, Luke and Natalia. Nope, they didn't get married. But, the castle and mansion is next to each other, right?

Anyways, it has been four years since the journey began. four years since Luke first met Tear. Four years...

Anise gazed down, her fingers trailed over the railings. She was so high up from the ground. But she didn't care. She felt a bit shaky though now. Nervous. She was still a childish, annoying, and maybe a bit greedy girl. But now she was 17, and, she wanted to be a Fon Master. The first female Fon Master. And she couldn't be childish anymore. Not now. She would have any important duty. And now...she could never slack off.

A tiny man walked up to her, then tilted his head. "Anise, somebody is waiting for you downstairs." She nodded, then started to run down. When she was young, she thought the cathedral was confusing. Now that she grown up, well, it was as easy as eating cake. (Anise loves sweets so, eating cake is no problem!) Though, she did wonder who wanted her. People barely asked to talk to her, so she was a bit surprised.

Once on the bottom floor, she climbed up the stairs and stopped at the big, brown door on the center of the room. She smiled, and with all her strength, she took her two hands and pushed them against the door. She quickly froze when she saw who wanted to meet her. She was shocked, and she couldn't even move. She wondered why that tall, dark person would want to talk to her at a peaceful time like this. And why, she wasn't sure how to talk to him. Not at all.

"Jade..." And he was as surprised as her. His long, light brown hair was shorter then what she remembered. The 17 year-old girl stepped back a bit, then let out a silent gasp. She twiddled her thumbs and looked down. Why did he freeze? It wasn't like he was the type of person to be surprised. Besides, he was the one who called her.

"You haven't changed a bit, haven't you Anise?" Jade said with his normal sarcastic voice. Anise looked up, a small smile crossing her mind. He hadn't changed either. And that might of been a good thing too, she always have loved the sarcastic, strong Jade.

"Boo meanie. I think I grew much more than you did!" The girl exclaimed. She was no longer wearing golden ribbons tied up in pigtails. Her hair had grown, and was now just a few inches shorter than how long Tear's hair was before. (Of course, she doesn't know how long Tear's hair is now.) It was just one year since they all last saw each other...but they all changed...so much. Anise clenched her fists then shook them vigorously.

Jade smiled, looking at her. "By now, I thought you would of changed. But you are only just about an inch longer and gained one inch of being more annoying."

She looked down at the ground. She thought if she ever saw Jade again, he would be kind. But no. Now he was acting so rude. So mean! She hated how he changed. Her smile quickly changed into a frown, and then she blinked. "Now, what business are you here for?" she demanded. She couldn't waste any more time arguing with this tough 39 year-old man. She wanted to talk more official with him, rather than talk about the journey they would never relive again.

"I was planning to speak to Florian, but since you were here I wouldn't mind to talk to you. Now, please bring Florian." She nodded to his command. She exited the door, and looked around for Florian.

When Jade was left alone, he looked down at his hand. He quietly talked to himself. "It's quite amusing that Anise didn't grow on the inside, but grown on the out . By what I shall say, she actually looks a bit, aesthetic."

He looked down at his feet. What the hell? Why did he call Anise aesthetic? He never called anybody beautiful, only things and now...why would he use the word on Anise? He took off his glasses and spun then around with the tip of his index finger. He wondered if Anise lost Florian, like she used to always lose Ion. But he couldn't just lose his mind on...nevermind.

"I'm here," Florian said in his soft voice. He smiled and looked at Jade. "Now, what business may you speak of to me?" His body looked as fragile as ever. Jade couldn't even believe Florian was still alive, but he was. Anise must of took care of him well. Speaking of the devil, Anise entered the room, her hand tightly squeezing her cloak. Cloak? What the...why was she wearing a cloak? The cloak was silky and purple, and fit her perfectly.

"Anise, please explain why you are wearing a cloak," Jade stated. He didn't really like to ask questions. It made him, kind of sound stupid. And why the heck would a Necromancer need to ask questions? Especially Jade the Necromancer!

In the purple cloak, she moved around as light shined on her. "Well, yah know, Natalia gave it to me and I will treasure it FOREVER! You know how much hard work she went to get it! Must be soooo expensive!" She was telling the truth, but didn't say everything. She sat down, tilted her head up, and watched the two people chat.

Jade looked down at Anise. "This is private business. Would you mind to go outside?"

"Boo!" she cried, then stuck out her pink tongue. She snorted then walked to the door. She looked back, and in a small whisper she said,"You don't even expect what is going to happen Colonel..." Then she began to run away. She exited the door and was a bit offended. She was going to be the Fon Master..wouldn't she need to listen to news like this?

Outside the door, Anise sat down, her legs up in front of her. She wrapped her hands around her legs, then gave a rough sigh. All she wanted to do was eavesdrop on them..but she couldn't. The door was like a wall, and the room was as if it was soundproof. And the Necromancer would keep his voice down, knowing Anise would most likely eavesdrop. She shot her fist up and then just silently shook her head. She got bored then rolled her eyes. What could she -

"ANISE! ANISE!" a voice called to her. She jumped up, landing perfectly on her feet. She wondered what was happening...but she knew that voice. It was the voice of a solider. She looked up to see a knight run up to her. "Anise, please go outside and help! Monsters are invading Daath!"

"Mama..papa," Anise muttered. She knew that her parents were outside at the moment. And they could not defend themselves. Her grasp on her cloak tightened, and she wanted to scream. But..she could defend her parents! But she didn't have any battle practice and..."I am going to help!" she shrieked. Her fingers trickled against her back, and she quickly grabbed Tokunga. With all her might, Tokunga grew and she quickly jumped on him. Tokunga waddled forward, then began to run towards the exit of the cathedral. He pushed against the door and soon she gasped at the sight.

Ligers. So many ligers. Not just any ligers...but..replica ligers? Her brown eyes widened and she wanted to run around. She was outnumbered. But she would not loose! At least, she would try not to. These ligers, they looked so strong...She grabbed Tokunga's neck as the ligers came forth to her. She yowled as if she was calling in a battle and jumped before the liger could attack her. The doll quickly moved its arms, attacking the monsters swiftly. "I'm bursting with fonons!" she said through all the noise. "Dual Dragon Surge!" she exclaimed, Tokunga doing just as she commanded. "O ravishing tragedy! Final Fury! Let's finish this!" She completed her mystic arte, then smiled. "Not done yet! Dying Moon!" She looked at the beautiful colors. Then she looked at the ligers. There were only a few dead...but she couldn't handle this by herself...

"O roar of the earth, bring forth the fangs of the mighty dragon. Ground Dasher!" Anise smiled and looked behind her to see Jade helping her out. He already killed more ligers than she did by herself. "Farewell," he said, positioning his glasses as the ligers died.

"Colonel, you're so strong!" Anise smiled, then moved her head around. She soon started to cast a spell. "O twisted door of distortion, open wide! Negative Gate!" The darkness sparked like light and proudly, she smiled. All of the ligers were dead but..."Mama! Papa!" A huge liger was surrounding her parents. She screeched and Tokunga ran to Mama and Papa. "Dragon Surge!" The move stroked the liger. The liger, who was a he, turned around and roared. He seemed to be a bit strong...maybe a bit too strong. Tokunga walked back, and the 17 year-old girl opened her mouth.

"Come on water, brilliant colors! Prismstrom!" Anise blushed shyly. The combination of Malestrom and Prism Sword was a pretty and strong one. She felt a bit embarrassed, but Jade just stood there and waited for the spells to finish the effect. He quickly used his overlimit and paused for a second. Curiously, Anise watched him. She grinned widely when she heard the words he spoke.

"I, who stand in the full light of the heavens command thee, who opens the gates of hell, come forth divine lightning! This ends now! Indignation!" In full amazement, Anise froze. The Liger just quickly died, and she jumped up and down.

"That was...awesome!" She swung around with Tokunga. "We won, hehe!" She twirled her wand around, but Jade looked at her weapon closely. He tilted his head, his dark amber eyes just studying it. Anise was a bit confused, and dropped her weapon.

"Anise, you are wearing Grand Cross. But, however, your Heart of Chaos should be pretty strong by now," Jade told her, showing his weapon, which apparently was his Nebilim weapon. He noted that this was stronger than his Coliseum weapon.

"But it only does like 500 damage or something... I'm not sure. It's very weak, I haven't defeated that much monsters. I barely got the last kill." Anise stuck out her tongue and tossed her hair into the air. She practically was getting a bit annoyed with the conversation.

"Then we can go to Baticul and go to the coliseum," Jade told her. Anise was a bit happy and smiled. "And we can see Luke and Natalia there." She wanted to see her companions again! Even if it was that snotty princess with short golden hair and small blue dresses. She wanted to see somebody!

"Let's go!"

"Luuke!" Anise screamed, tackling the former ambassador. She kept on moving and wiggling, happily smilng. Her dark brown hair fell on him, making him wonder who was there. But he remembered that voice...that annoying voice...

"Anise?" Luke said, sitting up, his legs crossed. "Wait, that is you Anise? Same personality, same voice, yet not same looks. You look kind of pretty."

"Oh my goodness! Luke called me pretty. A dream come true!" Her head whirled around, and she couldn't remove the smile off her face. She was very flattered and pleased. She was so happy.

"Yep, same Anise." Luke jumped up to his feet, and brushed Anise off his legs. She was now the same age as he was when he first started the journey. She was very tall, a bit taller than Tear was when she was 17. And that was actually a bit surprising.

Anise walked around the room, feeling the soft, pretty walls. "Oooh yeah! We should go to talk to Natalia, she may want to fight at the coliseum with us. Oh, and Luke, are you in for fighting at the coliseum with us! Besides..your title will let us get in for free! FREEEE!"

The girl gave a quick grin and tripped. She looked up to see Jade looking at her, his foot displayed under her feet. "What was that for Jade?"

"You being a bit too talkative and annoying," he said, walking away.

"Colonel..." And that voice was of both Luke and Anise, who were just standing there befuddled.

_What's going on?_


	2. Chapter 2: The Missing Princess

**I am very very sorry I forgot to mention a disclaimer for the last chapter. Anyways, I do not own Tales of the Abyss or any of the characters. I just made this story. **

"I am afraid you won't be able to see the princess," the king stated, staring at the group of three.

Anise jumped up, tilting her head in confusion. "Why won't we be able to see Natalia? We're her friends!" Her brown/black hair {I consider her hair very dark brown, but it can also be called black} glistened from the light shining down on it. She held Tokunga in front of her and tightened her grasp on him.

"Because, Natalia...is missing." He held his head high as if he was trying to hide the tears that rolled out from his eyes. He turned away, his fingers rubbing the tears away. When he turned back, his fingers were a bit damp and his eyes were red. He sniffled, then looked back at the group.

"Your majesty, how come I wasn't aware of this?" Luke asked, a black cape flowing behind him. He had thought that they would tell him any news if Natalia was missing; especially since they lived right next to each other. He looked down at his hand that was covered with some sort of brown glove. He looked back up, his blue eyes dimming as he worried if another one of his companions was also in danger.

King Ingobert fixed his gaze at Luke. He began to speak, but his voice sounded like he was ashamed..maybe. "We didn't want to worry you Luke. That would stop you from your other duties." Anise grimaced as if she was disgusted of some sort.

As best as she could, the puppeteer took in her anger and simply stated her sentence. "Well, we would be more than happy to look for Natalia. We have a lot of time to spare."

Jade shrugged, then held his hands up to his shoulders. "And I'm assuming you forgot about me Anise? What if I had some important business to do?"

The girl crossed her eyes then put her hands on her hips. She turned around to Jade, lifting her head. "You said 'if.' Colonel, you probably don't have any important business to do at the moment!" Anise, a bit annoyed, stuck out her tongue. She rolled her eyes.

"Guys, did you forget about Natalia? Our time is limited!" Luke said, then stomped out of the door.

Anise snapped her fingers. "So, I do suppose you are coming with us."

* * *

><p>Luke looked around, then smiled. Daath hadn't changed that much; but the places it did change did make it look more beautiful and unique. There were a few lacy garlands around the inn, and the monument had a few ribbons on it. Daath looked less dusty and blurry, and more clean. He proceeded on, running up the heavy steps to the cathedral. He pushed the two doors at the same time and entered the cathedral.<p>

"Anise," a light voice said, then ran towards the girl. Florian hugged Anise, smiling then patted her head. "I have something for you Anise." He held out some piece of clothing wrapped up into a cube. There was a black bow on it to keep it sercure.

"What? Florian, you want me to wear this?" Anise asked. _Looks like a boring old white dress or something. _She didn't want it, and she didn't want to take that much from Florian.

Florian nodded. "I made it just for you!~" He then handed Anise the clothing as she hesitantly accepted it.

"Umm..thanks Florian. We're kind of busy right now, though," Anise told Florian. She held the wrapped clothes under her arm.

"Go on Anise. Like you said, we have a lot of time to spare," Jade said, showing no emotion. But it seemed he was rather amused with the scene happening right in front of him.

Anise nodded, looking at the dress. _If Florian made it, it may not be that bad._ Anise looked back up, then looked slightly embarrassed. "Uh-uh, I'll go to my room. You guys can come, but I really prefer if you stand outside the door, ok?"

And with that, she rushed to her room.

* * *

><p>"Man, this isn't that bad, actually," Anise said, stepping out of her room. A small part of her hair was one thin braid. A green ribbon tightened it up. Her backpack looked like a small first-aid kit. She was wearing a white dress that almost looked like a nurse outfit. It had lace flowers at the bottom of it and was pretty long. The dress was outlined with a gold shade. And she seemed to be wearing white high-heel boots.<p>

Luke blinked, at a lost for words. "Anyways, Anise, if Natalia was, supposedly here, where would she be? This place is pretty big."

"I knew you would ask that! This place is pretty easy to explore, actually. It won't take a long time if you use this map I drew. I, myself got confused, but I memorized this map so it's easy." She pulled out a map from her backpack and showed it to Luke. It was drawn by crayons, but was not that complicated to understand.

"So, if we used Warp A, then enter Room A-A and keep going to go to the Fon Master's room?" Luke asked.

"Yes! Exactly!" Anise exclaimed. "So, if we took Warp B, enter Room B-A, keep going, make a few turns, we will make it to Dead End B-A."

"That sounds a bit confusing, but I think I'll get the hang of it." Luke looked at the map. "So, to leave your room, we can take the stairs." Anise nodded happily and leaded them out.

* * *

><p>"So, that concludes that Natalia is nowhere here in Daath," Jade informed. They had covered every acre of Daath and didn't find a single trace of the princess. They stood at the entrance of the cathedral, a bit angry at themselves for choosing Daath to begin with. Then suddenly, a letter rolled towards Luke, and he picked it up.<p>

_"Dear you foolish weaklings,_

_You idiots don't have a clue where the one you are looking for may be? I expected that. You probably won't even find her. She's safely kept in a place you don't expect her to be. Yes, safely. She was kidnapped, but you know she's strong enough to protect herself. It is as if she let us kidnap her.I could be lying, you never know. Haha, you fools. So, just go to a place you don't expect her to be. Simple, yes? NOT._

_Bye,_

_The Person You Never Wanna Meet." _Luke stared at the letter. "What the...?"

"Wow," Anise said blankly. "The place you don't expect her to be...Yulia City."

"She said,'go to a place you don't expect her to be.' You expected it was Yulia City almost immediately." Luke then took his eyes of of the letter.

"Yeah, but in my heart and instincts I think it is Yulia City. Trust me."

* * *

><p>"Natalia! Natalia!" Luke and Anise called out. They looked around for any signs of the girl. They looked even at the warp point to go to Aramis Springs. They were almost loosing hope until Jade told them they were taking the wrong route.<p>

"You haven't even looked in Tear's room, have you?" Jade asked, looking at her house. It looked as if a waterfall was crashing down for the door.

"What would she be doing in Tear's room?" Luke asked, staring at Jade.

"Just look."

So, Luke and Anise ran into Tear's house, Jade walking behind them. He positioned his eyeglasses as they glinted. He watched the two look around everywhere, even under Tear's bed. Anise dropped down, placing Tokunga next to her. "This is useless. I'm bummed."

"Wait..." Luke murmured as Anise picked up Tokunga. She got to her feet and he ran to the garden door. He pushed it open and gasped as he saw a familiar figure hovering above the flowers.

"NATALIA!" Anise shouted. Almost like she did to Luke, she ran towards the princess. Natalia wasn't one of her favorite companions, but oh-well. She looked at the princess, who had a depressed look on her face. "Oooh..you don't look so well Natalia."

"Anise, enough of you nonsense," Natalia commanded. "Can't you see? I was kidnapped by some random stranger and taken to Yulia City! Tear wasn't even here to help me. They promised to kill me if I escaped Yulia City. I thought the mayor would know about this by now...but..."

"We can take down whoever this random stranger is... or strangers. We'll do whatever we can to help you Natalia," Luke comforted her.

"Really? Thank you."

"I still feel like this a prank..." Anise said softly, looking at her feet.


End file.
